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The East Ridge girls hockey team has come a long way. After an 0-4 start, the Raptors are now 9-9-1 overall and 7-4-1 in the Suburban East Conference. Last week, the Raptors defeated all three of its conference opponents in what was one of the most successful weeks in the program's young history. East Ridge took down White Bear Lake, Stillwater and rival Park in a stretch of five days. On Monday, Jan.

The first Suburban East Conference race of the winter didn't go as well as hoped for the PWER alpine squads. PWER (Park, Woodbury, East Ridge) compete in the same meets and are coached by the same staff, but race as separate teams. In SEC meet No. 1, serious timing issues forced the boys portion of the meet to be called off, and the races were run as exhibitions. In the girls race, Stillwater edged East Ridge in a meet the Raptors hoped to win. Stillwater totaled 807 points. East Ridge scored 798 points. Mounds View was third with 786 points.

The East Ridge gymnastics team scored a 129.15 to finish in fourth place at the Big Lake Invitational meet on Jan. 5. East Ridge freshman Karina Joiner had the Raptors' top score of the meet, hitting a 9.1 on the vault. Joiner also had East Ridge's top score in the floor exercise with an 8.3. Freshman Megan Trollen scored a team-best 8.9 on the bars and freshman Kelsey Deverell had a team-high 8.5 on the beam. East Ridge junior Lauren LaForte led the way for the Raptors in the all-around competition, scoring a 29.45.

It's been a season of streaks for the East Ridge girls basketball team. The Raptors opened the season with six straight wins, before dropping three in a row before the holiday break. With a Jan. 4, 72-46 Suburban East Conference victory over Hastings, East Ridge (7-3; 2-3 SEC) is hoping they started another streak. East Ridge led 43-24 at the half and never looked back in the 26 point win.

Three standouts from the East Ridge football team will get to show what they can do on a national stage this week. Center J.C. Hassenauer and tight end George Behr, both seniors-to-be next season, as well as quarterback Seth Green, a sophomore-to-be, were invited to participate in this week's U.S. Army National Combine in San Antonio. The trio headed to Texas to participate with 500 of the best high school football players from around the country.

Sixty-five girls basketball teams in fifth through eighth grade flocked to south Washington County on Jan. 5 and 6 as the Cottage Grove Athletic Association hosted its 26th annual CGAA Girls Classic basketball tournament at Park and East Ridge high schools, including teams from Cottage Grove, East Ridge and Woodbury. In total, 17 teams from south Washington County competed in "The Classic" - six Cottage Grove teams, seven East Ridge teams and four Woodbury teams.

Last week, the East Ridge boys swimming and diving team continued to solidify itself as one of the best in the state. Fresh off its win over Stillwater, the Raptors had two meets last week, a Suburban East Conference dual meet with White Bear Lake and the prestigious Maroon and Gold Invitational, held at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. East Ridge made quick work of White Bear Lake, winning 117-64 on Thursday at home, then took third place in the Gold Division (the highest of three levels) at the Maroon and Gold invite.

The holiday season wasn't so merry for the New Life Academy boys basketball team. After starting the season 4-0, the Eagles have now lost three straight games. All three losses have come on the road. The latest loss came on Dec. 21 at the hands of Concordia Academy-Roseville. The Eagles fell 80-66, but the real story was the second half. After leading 38-35 after the first half, New Life was outscored 45-28 in the second half , hindered by senior forward Jared Schneidermann, who finished with a team-high 19 points. Schneidermann added 12 rebounds as well.